Prepositions Time

English
  on in days of the week months / seasons time of day year after a certain period of time (when?)  at for night for weekend a certain point of time (when?)        since for ago before to past to / till / until till / until from a certain point of time (past till now) over a certain period of time (past till now) a certain time in the past earlier than a certain point of time telling the time telling the time marking the beginning and end of a period of time in the sense of how long something is going to last in the sense of at the latest up to a certain time

Usage
on Monday

Example

in August / in winter in the morning in 2006 in an hour at night at the weekend at half past nine since 1980 for 2 years 2 years ago before 2004 ten to six (5:50) ten past six (6:10) from Monday to/till Friday

He is on holiday until Friday.

by

I will be back by 6 oclock. By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

Prepositions Place (Position and Direction)

English
 in

Usage
room, building, street, town, country book, paper etc. car, taxi

Example
in the kitchen, in London in the book in the car, in a taxi

English
picture, world  at

Usage

Example
in the picture, in the world at the door, at the station at the table at a concert, at the party at the cinema, at school, at work

meaning next to, by an object for table for events place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, study, work)

on

attached for a place with a river being on a surface for a certain side (left, right) for a floor in a house for public transport for television, radio

the picture on the wall London lies on the Thames. on the table on the left on the first floor on the bus, on a plane on TV, on the radio Jane is standing by / next to / beside the car.

by, next to, beside  under

left or right of somebody or something

on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something else lower than something else but above ground covered by something else meaning more than getting to the other side (also across) overcoming an obstacle

the bag is under the table

 

below over

the fish are below the surface put a jacket over your shirt over 16 years of age walk over the bridge climb over the wall a path above the lake

above

higher than something else, but not directly over it getting to the other side (also over) getting to the other side

across

walk across the bridge swim across the lake drive through the tunnel

through

something with limits on top, bottom and the sides movement to person or building movement to a place or country

to

go to the cinema go to London / Ireland

English
for bed   into towards

Usage
go to bed

Example

enter a room / a building movement in the direction of something (but not directly to it) movement to the top of something in the sense of where from

go into the kitchen / the house go 5 steps towards the house

 

onto from

jump onto the table a flower from the garden

Other important Prepositions

English
  from of who gave it who/what does it belong to what does it show   by on who made it walking or riding on horseback entering a public transport vehicle     in off out of by entering a car / Taxi leaving a public transport vehicle leaving a car / Taxi rise or fall of something travelling (other than walking or horseriding)   at about for age for topics, meaning what about

Usage

Example
a present from Jane a page of the book the picture of a palace a book by Mark Twain on foot, on horseback get on the bus get in the car get off the train get out of the taxi prices have risen by 10 percent by car, by bus she learned Russian at 45 we were talking about you

Look at the chart below:

IN

We use in with months - in May seasons - in winter

country - in Greece city or town names - in New York times of the day - in the morning, afternoon or evening BUT at night! ON We use "on" with specific days - on Friday, on New Year's Day, on April the 19th American English - "on the weekend OR on weekends" We use "at" with specific times - at 7 o'clock, at 6.15 at night specific places in a city - at school British English - "at the weekend OR at weekends" We use "to" with verbs which show movement such as go and come - He goes to school. She returned to the store. They are coming to the party tonight.

AT

TO

USES OF PREPOSITIONS.
Inseparable.
310. Prepositions are used in three ways: (1) Compounded with verbs, adverbs, or conjunctions; as, for example, with verbs, withdraw, understand, overlook, overtake, overflow, undergo, outstay, outnumber, overrun, overgrow, etc.; with adverbs, thereat, therein, therefrom, thereby, therewith, etc.; with conjunctions, whereat, wherein, whereon, wherethrough, whereupon, etc.

Separable.
(2) Following a verb, and being really a part of the verb. This use needs to be watched closely, to see whether the preposition belongs to the verb or has a separate prepositional function. For example, in the sentences, (a) "He broke a pane from the window," (b) "He broke into the bank," in (a), the verb broke is a predicate, modified by the phrase introduced by from; in (b), the predicate is not broke, modified by into the bank, but broke intothe object, bank. Study carefully the following prepositions with verbs: Considering the space they took up.Swift. I loved, laughed at, and pitied him.Goldsmith. The sun breaks through the darkest clouds.Shakespeare.

They will root up the whole ground.Swift. A friend prevailed upon one of the interpreters.Addison My uncle approved of it.Franklin. The robber who broke into them.Landor. This period is not obscurely hinted at.Lamb. The judge winked at the iniquity of the decision.Id. The pupils' voices, conning over their lessons.Irving. To help out his maintenance.Id. With such pomp is Merry Christmas ushered in.Longfellow.

Ordinary use as connective, relation words.

(3) As relation words, introducing phrases,the most common use, in which the words have their own proper function.

311. Prepositions are the subtlest and most useful words in the language for compressing a clear meaning into few words. Each preposition has its proper and general meaning, which, by frequent and exacting use, has expanded and divided into a variety of meanings more or less close to the original one. Take, for example, the word over. It expresses place, with motion, as, "The bird flew over the house;" or rest, as, "Silence broods over the earth." It may also convey the meaning of about, concerning; as, "They quarreled over the booty." Or it may express time: "Stay over night." The language is made richer and more flexible by there being several meanings to each of many prepositions, as well as by some of them having the same meaning as others.

</TABLE Preposition usage is an important part of the English Language, or any language for that matter. So just what is proper usage?

sefulness of prepositions.

Preposition Usage

Prepositions are generally used to show the relationship between its object and other words in the sentence. The following show preposition usage and the relationships of prepositions with the other words in the sentences they are in. Remembering relationships will help you remember which preposition to use. Also, you might want to check out my new web site called Advanced English Grammar. It has many, many pages of prepositions and their usage plus free exercises to test and increase your knowledge of English grammar. y Place (in, on, under, over, near, beside, etc.) Your book is on the table. y Direction (to, toward, into, through, etc.) The football player ran through the stadium to the other end. y Time (in, on, at, etc.) We can meet at five oclock. y Agent (by) This book was written by a famous author. y Instrument (by, with) I heard the news by television. (Communication) She came by bus. (Transportation) He opened the door with a key.

(Instrument or tool) TIP: We use by + no article for communication and transportation. Examples: by phone, by radio, and by bus, by car y Accompaniment (with) I like spaghetti with white sauce. Mrs. Vajiona went to Thassos Island with her husband Georgios. y Purpose (for) He went to the store for milk and bread. TIP: Never, Never use for + verb + ing to express the purpose of the verb. Example: He went to the store for buying milk and bread. This is wrong usage and a common mistake! y Partition / Possession (of) They painted the front of the building white and green. He broke the top of the table with his fist. y Measure (by, of) We buy our olive oil by the 16 kilo container. Please buy a quart of milk from the

market. y Similarity (like) Mary walks like her mother. y Capacity (as) Bill worked as a fireman until a year ago.